Many people dream of becoming Olympians, but few athletes ever make it that far, but one Salt Lake City native was able to turn that dream into a reality. Bill Schuffenhauer, a three-time Olympic bobsledder, spoke to students at the Marriott Library Monday afternoon about his Olympic journey.
He has competed in bobsled for the past three Winter Olympics. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, Schuffenhauer helped bring home the silver medal, something the United States had not achieved for 46 years.
Schuffenhauer’s dream started when he was young because he realized that his home life was not what he wanted and he began setting his own goals.
“The goal was to become an Olympian and forever change my stars,” Schuffenhauer said.
Schuffenhauer’s Olympic path was far from smooth. He grew up in between homes, living either at his grandmother’s or in foster care. He has lived in 13 different foster homes. When he was young, he joined his parents when they did drugs because he didn’t know any better. He has never met his father, though he still hopes to.
Schuffenhauer also suffered a number of injuries while training for the Olympics.
“You tend to get a lot of injuries, pushing your body past the point of what you actually think you can do. All my injuries happened through training,” Schuffenhauer said.
One of the biggest obstacles he faced was coming out of retirement to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics. He was out of shape and competing with much younger athletes. After getting back into shape he received a neck injury, but he delayed the necessary surgery so that he could compete.
“In my heart I knew it was the right thing to do,” Schuffenhauer said. “I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave anything on the table.”
He also offered an abundance of advice to student athletes.
“Make sure you have your priorities straight and set goals for yourself, because if you don’t, you’re sort of running through the forest blind,” he said. “Have short-term goals, mid-term goals and long-term goals — and be prepared for changes.”
Schuffenhauer also stressed the importance of prioritizing education.
“They wouldn’t let you compete if you had bad grades, so in seventh or eighth grade I learned that my education is just as important as sports,” he said.
Students that attended took away different aspects of his message.
Griffin Conroy, a junior in health education and promotion liked his advice on education.
“I really liked his piece on education. Even though his parents didn’t have high goals, he stepped away from a darker place. He was able to find new role models, set personal goals and achieve more than what his parents had ever expected,” Conroy said.
Jazmine Martinez, a sophomore in fine arts noticed that Schuffenhauer’s down-to-earth personality.
“He’s so humble and I liked how he said that he’s proud of himself,” Martinez said. “And as a result he doesn’t care what other people think.”
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